Box Score Fayette, Mo. - The Columbia men's basketball team earned a dramatic victory at Central Methodist University on Wednesday night as Devin Griffin beat the second half buzzer to give the Cougars an 81-79 win in regulation. The Cougars, ranked fourth in the NAIA Top 25 Poll, improve to 2-0 on the season.

Columbia jumped out to a 15-2 lead to begin the game as Jeremy Nolen capped of 13-0 run with a three-pointer with 15:15 to play in the period. However, the Eagles would battle back to tie it and eventually went up 40-37 on a three by Melvin Tillman. The Cougars would take a 42-40 lead on a trey by Wendell Crowder and a basket by Patric Massey with less than a minute to play in the half, but a last-second field goal by Central Methodist tied the score at 42 heading into halftime. Derrick Dilworth had 12 first-half points to lead Columbia, who shot 44 percent from the field and hit 5 of 11 attempts from behind the arc in the opening frame.

Coming out of the halftime break, Tanner Sutton put the Cougars in front 45-42 with a three-pointer on their first possession. Columbia maintained the lead over the next six minutes and stretched their advantage out to nine points at 61-52 on back-to-back threes by Sutton with 12:27 left in regulation. The Cougars looked to be in control as a bucket by Chantel Stanciel made it 74-61 with less than six minutes to play. Central Methodist would mount a comeback from there as Tillman scored 15 of the Eagles' next 18 points and tied the score at 79 with his fifth three of the contest with three seconds remaining. That set the stage for Griffin, who took the inbounds pass the length of the court and netted a jumper at the other end to beat the buzzer for the last-second victory.

The Cougars connected on 30 of 58 attempts (52 percent) from the field on the night, while going 10 for 22 (45 percent) from distance. Griffin led three Columbia players in double figures with 15 points. Dilworth and Sutton both chipped in 14 points, with Dilworth dishing out a game-high five assists. Nolen and Malik Ray each pulled down a team-high six rebounds as the Cougars finished with a 37-34 advantage on the boards. Tillman led all scorers with 32 points for Central Methodist.

Columbia will return home to host Hope International (Calif.) University on Saturday, November 23^rd in a rematch of last year's NAIA National Tournament Sweet 16 game, a thrilling 66-64 victory for the Cougars. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Arena of Southwell Complex.